Barbie Liberation

Teen Talk Barbie proved to be the final straw. People who were
already upset at Barbie’s anorexic figure and her way of turning play
into superficial consumerism couldn’t believe their ears when
Barbie’s electric voice box giggled:

“Math is hard!”

“I love shopping!”

“Will we ever have enough clothes?”

Snigglers to the rescue

In 1989 the Barbie Liberation Organization was formed. Taking advantage
of similarities in the voice hardware of Teen Talk Barbie and
the Talking Duke G.I.
Joe doll, er, “action figure,” they absconded with several
hundred of each and performed a stereotype-change operation on the lot.

The surgery was no simple matter — circuit boards had to be trimmed, a
capacitor moved, and a switch re-engineered. The press made it sound like
an easy pop-and-switch operation, but this took some research and
dedication. (A step-by-step explanation of the
BLO method can be found
in PDF format at
this page)

The BLO returned the
altered dolls to the toy store shelves, who then resold them to children
who had to invent scenarios for Barbies who yelled “Vengeance is
mine!” and G.I. Joes who
daydreamed “Let’s plan our dream wedding!” Cleverly
placed “call your local TV
news” stickers on the back ensured that the media would have genuine
recipients to interview as soon as the news broke.

One BLO member counted
up the many benefits of their program: “The storekeepers make money
twice, we stimulate the economy — the consumer gets a better product
— and our message gets heard.”

The BLO was helped by
funding from
®TMark,
which subsidizes and promotes a whole buncha culture jamming projects.

www sniggle.net

On This Day in Snigglery

December 19, 1998: Radically non-violent undercover anarchist Monica Lewinsky successfully throws the U.S. government into chaos as U.S. president Bill Clinton is impeached. (See Guerrilla Hacks for more indirect action)